Father Daughter Dance
by Silencing Hate
Summary: Mattie is getting married. She and Harm discuss what song they should dance to the night before the ceremony.


Disclaimer: I don't own JAG.

Mattie tapped her pen against the notepad in front of her. She had everything else arranged for tomorrow – the venue was rented, her dress was hanging in the closet, and she was alone for the night while her fiance spent his last evening in his "bachelor pad." Everything was perfect for her wedding except for the song for her father-daughter dance with Harm. Mattie wanted that dance to be perfect as well but none of the songs seemed right. Most of the songs she could find talked about a little girl dancing or learning to ride a bike with her father but Mattie had only known Harm since she was fourteen. There had to be a song that would express how much Harm meant to her that did not emphasize the fact that while Harm was her father in her heart, he was not her birth father.

Of course, all of the other songs she had considered were so terribly sappy that Mattie could not help but groan. Neither she nor Harm were ones to openly express their emotions in a public place, even if it was her wedding day. And, most of those songs had been used in one movie or another and that seemed to somehow demean the sentiment behind them. Shaking her head, Mattie tried desperately to hold her frustration in. Maybe she should just ask Harm's opinion – he would be here any minute for their dinner date after all. Thankful to have an excuse to escape from her task, Mattie went into the kitchen to begin cooking.

As she started the spaghetti sauce, Mattie could not help but smile as she remembered the summer that Harm taught her to cook. It was their first summer as a family with Mac and a year after her plane accident. Harm had walked into Mattie's room one morning and announced that he was going to teach her to cook just like she had asked him to three years prior. Mattie would always treasure the long hours she had spent in the kitchen with Harm. He had started by teaching her to boil water, just like she had joked with him so long ago. Over the two months before Mattie returned to school, Harm had taught her everything he knew about cooking. Their times in the kitchen had healed the slight rifts between Harm and Mattie and they had brought Mac solidly into Mattie's life. Just as people always say that the kitchen is the heart of the home, Mattie believed that cooking was the heart of her family.

But tonight was also very special. Tonight was the last time that Mattie and Harm would have just for themselves before Mattie's life took on a very permanent addition. As she added noodles to a pot of boiling water, Mattie heard her door open and turned to see Harm standing in the doorway. He had that look on his face Mattie had seen the last several times she had seen him – almost as if he could not believe exactly how life had turned out. She was just unsure if it was her life or his that had surprised him so much. Double checking the spaghetti sauce before leaving the kitchen, Mattie walked over to the door to give Harm a hug.

As Mattie's arms wrapped around his waist, Harm seemed to break out of whatever daze he had been in. Hugging her back, Harm took his time remembering this moment. It was the last moment that his little girl would be just his. Harm was torn inside. He was so happy that Mattie had found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with but at the same time he was sad she was leaving him again. To Harm, it felt like just yesterday that he had walked into that hangar and met fourteen year old Mattie. She had grown up so much, becoming the beautiful woman standing in front of him tonight on the evening before her wedding. She had changed his life in so many ways – Mattie was the first person that made him believe he could be himself all the time and still be loved. She had taught him to grow up, be responsible for his actions, and love unconditionally.

"Hey sweetie. Dinner smells marvelous," Harm said as he released Mattie from the hug. Smiling up at Harm, Mattie led the way into the kitchen. After checking on the food quickly, they both leaned against the counter and stared at each other for a few minutes. It was a quiet, assessing stare as they both considered all of the things they wanted to say to each other. Finally, Mattie gathered her courage to start the conversation.

"Thanks for coming over Harm, I'm really glad we could spend this time together."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else Mattie. Is everything ready for tomorrow?"

Mattie grimaced a little recalling her difficulty with the father-daughter dance song, but was saved from responding as the timer for dinner went off. "The food is ready. I'll move it to the table if you can get out the plates and silverware?" Mattie asked as she pulled hot pads out of a drawer to move the spaghetti pot off the burner.

Moving the plates and silverware to Mattie's table, Harm quickly set the table then turned to watch Mattie bring the noodles and sauce over. "So, back to my question earlier, is everything ready for tomorrow?"

"Well, I've got my dress hanging up, Josh is settled in at his place for his last night as a bachelor, the church and the reception hall are decorated, and the caterer and the bakery have confirmed delivery. Everything is all set up and ready. Except for one thing." Mattie served Harm and then herself as she rattled off the checklist she had been running through her head multiple times a day for the last two weeks. Probably even longer, if she was completely honest with herself.

"What's left? It sounds like you have everything under control," Harm replied as he twirled noodles around his fork and raised the food to his mouth. "This is really good Mattie," he added as he watched Mattie carefully weigh her response to his question.

"Well, the DJ called earlier today. He needed the final selections for all of the special dances. Josh and I's first dance was easy and so was Josh's dance with his mom. But I realized that we never picked a song for our dance."

Harm paused eating, wrinkling his brow as he tried to remember what song Mattie was referring to. "I assume you mean the father-daughter dance? I wasn't sure if you wanted to have that dance or not." Harm trailed off, looking a bit guilty about the whole prospect.

"Yup, that's the one I meant. Why wouldn't I want to dance with you at my wedding?" Mattie replied with just a hint of a defensive attitude. If Harm refused her, Mattie would put on a good face for him but inside she would be crushed. She wanted to dance at her wedding with the man she considered her father.

"Well, I always planned to dance with you. I just wasn't sure if you would want to actually make it an official father-daughter dance. With your experiences with your dad, I just didn't want to bring up the issue. I didn't want to broach a painful topic." Harm replied a little uncertainly. Secretly, Harm really wanted to dance that particular dance with Mattie but had been afraid to bring it up because Tom had hurt Mattie so many times.

Even though it had been years since Tom had walked out of Mattie's hospital room to begin drinking again, Harm had always felt a little guilty about encouraging Mattie to let her father back into her life. It wasn't a topic the two had ever discussed. After her accident, things had been so crazy for both of them. Harm had re-petitioned the court for custody, he and Mac were moving and combining their households, and then there had been the arrangements for Mattie – school, therapy, and moving her into their new home. Their lives had been so crazy and Mattie had been so focused on getting better that Harm had never broached the topic of her father. Perhaps selfishly, Harm had been so relieved that she was alive and still wanted him in her life that he had been afraid to bring up Tom and push her away again.

"Harm, you are my dad. I want to dance with you at my wedding, if you're willing to. I know we hadn't talked about it. I guess I just always assumed you knew that's what I wanted." Mattie replied softly, focusing all of her attention on the plate in front of her. She was still uncomfortable discussing anything that related to feelings. Communicating her feelings was one of the things that Josh and Mattie had worked hard at in their relationship and that Mattie knew she would have to continue to work on. Sitting with Harm at the dinner table, she still felt a bit uncomfortable about the whole topic but she wanted to dance with him more than she cared about being uncomfortable.

"Mattie, look at me," Harm said softly but sternly. It was the voice he used with her anytime she tried to avoid a subject that was important to her. "I want to dance with you too. More than anything. It's the night before your wedding, so I don't want to discuss this tonight unless you want to, but you know you can talk to me about your dad anytime, right?" Reaching across the small kitchen table, Harm held Mattie's hand and gently rubbed circles on the back as he watched her swallow a lump in her throat.

"Thanks Harm. Maybe someday we can talk about it. But you should know, anytime someone asks me about my dad, I talk about you." Mattie smiled at Harm and squeezed his hand to let him know she appreciated his support. "So, do you have any ideas on what song we should dance to?"

"I think I might have a few ideas. How soon do you need to tell the DJ?"

"He said he needs the song at least three hours before the wedding so he can buy a copy if he doesn't already have it."

"Okay, I promise I'll get the song to him in time if you're willing to let me surprise you with the song?"

"Of course. I trust you to pick a good one. You'll probably do a better job at it than I will – Josh finally picked the song we're dancing to tomorrow." Mattie smiled again at Harm. As they finished their meal in quiet conversation, Harm considered his options for tomorrow. He wanted to make sure that all of the love he felt for Mattie was fully conveyed in his song selection. Luckily, Harm had a few good ideas for what song to pick.

~~~JAG~~~

The wedding was over and everything had gone absolutely perfectly as far as Mattie was concerned. Harm had walked her down the aisle and handed her over to the love of her life. Mattie and Josh were seated at the head table with their wedding party watching all of their friends eat and dance. She and Josh had already danced and were now finishing up their dinner. As the latest song finished playing, Mattie looked up to see Harm standing next to the DJ.

"Mattie, could you come down here please?" Harm asked over the speaker system. Giving Josh a quick peck, Mattie moved to stand with Harm in front of the dance floor. "It is now time for the father-daughter dance. Mattie has no idea what song we're about to dance to. She asked me last night if I had an opinion on the song and I volunteered to pick. Mattie, I hope this song conveys just a little bit how happy I am for you and how much I love you."

Mattie was so surprised that Harm had said he loved her in front of all of her guests that she simply followed him onto the floor and started to dance with him as the first notes floated out of the speakers. It wasn't until the words of the song started that Mattie managed to focus on the song and the dance steps again.

As the notes of the song after the first chorus played and Harm twirled her around the floor, Mattie made a sudden decision. It was time to do the one thing she had never done over the last several years. They slowly moved around the floor to the beat of the music, not really talking except when Harm told Mattie, for the hundredth time that day, that she looked absolutely beautiful. Just as Harm had wanted, Mattie listened to the words of the song and let them wash over her heart. Yes, she was sure this was the absolute right moment to tell him. Today was a day of new beginnings for her, and this would just be one more part of the new life she was about to embark on.

Before either of them realized it, the song had ended and Harm was gently dipping Mattie. As he pulled her out of the dip and into a hug, Mattie seized the opportunity and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"I love you, Daddy."

~~~JAG~~~

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed my latest foray into the JAG world. I think that the relationship between Mattie and Harm is absolutely beautiful and I always wished the show had shown more of it so I decided to seize on the opportunity to tell a short snippet of time between the two. In case anyone is wondering, the song I picked for them to dance to was "Daddy's Angel" by Anthony W. Carter. It is a fairly recent song from what I can find online – I had never heard it until I was doing research for this story. I decided to leave the lyrics out of the story because I thought they would distract from Harm and Mattie's dance. I don't know if the lyrics are perfect for Harm and Mattie, but I think the song expresses what Harm would want to tell Mattie on her wedding day even if it is a little sappy for both of them. Any errors are mine. Thanks for reading! As always, I love reviews!


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